'Project Hail Mary' blows up the box office in its opening weekend

The science fiction dystopia starring Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Maryhad a theatrical release of epic proportions.

The Amazon MGM Studios film, titled in our region, End of the World Projectwhere it is also distributed by Sony Pictures, accumulated $80.5 million dollars in its opening weekend at the US box officeand others $60.4 million at the international box office in 82 marketsfor a start global total of $140.9 million dollarsbreaking some records along the way:

• He highest-grossing premiere in the history of Amazon MGM Studios inside and outside the United Statessurpassing the Creed III (2023) and its $58 million dollars in the national box office, and its $100.4 million global dollars ($41.8 million international box office).
• He highest-grossing premiere of the year 2026 in the United Statessurpassing the box office launch of Scream 7 and its $63 million dollars.
• He highest-grossing premiere of the year 2026 at the global box officeagain surpassing Scream 7 and its $97.2 million global dollars.
• It's the only other moviein addition to Oppenheimerwhich without being a sequel or franchisepremieres with more than $80 million dollars in the national box office in the last decade.

Project Hail Mary shattered expectations. Prior to its debut in theaters, expert projections estimated that it would accumulate approximately $65 million dollars in the United States.

The film, which adapts the novel by Andy Weir, author as well as The Martianhad a production cost of $200 million dollarsplus marketing costs.

Four years after acquiring MGM for $8.45 billion, Amazon now seems to have its first major commercial success on its handswhile competing to position itself among the other major streaming platforms.

The box office hit comes at a crucial time for the studio, as This is the first year in which they have a complete and extensive calendar of film releaseswith 13 films scheduled to premiere on the big screen in 2026. Until before Project Hail Maryits attempts at film releases had included some high-profile projects that had failed to stand out and fell far short of justifying the company's large investment in them.

Just this year, they released the documentary Melaniawhich grossed $16 million against a $40 million budget. Later the movie Crime 101with an all-star cast including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry, grossed $65 million, against a budget of $90 million.

Amazon MGM Studios' next high-profile project is Masters of the Universewith a premiere scheduled for June.

The plot of Project Hail Marydirected by Phil Lord y Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street, The LEGO Movie), is set in the near future and revolves around Ryland Grace (Gosling), a high school science teacher, with the not easy task of becoming an unexpected hero with an impossible mission: save the world by embarking on an interstellar mission.

His mission leads him to meet a mysterious alien nicknamed Rocky, who also seeks to save his own species.

In addition to Gosling, the main cast includes Sandra Hueller (Anatomy of a Fall), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), Ken Leung (Joker: Folie à Deux, Lost), Liz Kingsman (F1), y Milana Vayntrub (Monsters, This Is Us).

He wrote the script Drew Goddard (The Martian, Cabin in the Woods, Daredevil, World War Z), adapted from the novel of the same name by Andy Weir.

Goddard previously adapted another Weir novel for film, The Martian (2015), which became a complete success for everyone involved in the project.

The producers are Miller, Lord, Weir, Gosling, Amy Pascal, Aditya Sood and Rachel O'Connor. Goddard is executive producer alongside Patricia Whitcher, Sarah Esberg, Lucy Kitada, Nikki Baida, and Ken Kao.

Greig Fraser (Dune, Dune: Part Two, Zero Dark Thirty, The Batman) is the director of photography. Daniel Pemberton (saga Spider-Verse, Materialists, Slow Horses, Black Mirror) is the composer of the soundtrack.

End of the World Projectnow in theaters and in IMAX.